1. Field of the Invention
The present invention pertains to a carpet extractor fluid supply system. More particularly, the present application pertains to such a fluid supply system that is capable of supplying fluid to a floor being cleaned at two different rates, namely a first normal flow rate for normal cleaning and a second higher flow rate for cleaning heavily soiled areas.
2. Background Information
It is known in the prior art to provide a carpet extractor with a fluid reservoir that communicates with a fluid distributor for distributing cleaning fluid upon a floor surface such as carpeting or bare floor. A valve is typically located between the fluid reservoir and the fluid distributor. The valve is actuated by a remote actuator, such as a manually actuated trigger located in the hand grip of the machine. Such an arrangement is illustrated in commonly owned U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,500,977 and 5,867,857. U.S. Pat. No. 1,204,478 issued to Naokes discloses a floor scrubbing machine that has a cleaning solution reservoir having two pipes communicating the reservoir to a floor distributor. Each of the two pipes has its own valve for independently supplying cleaning solution to the distributor.
In order to clean heavily soiled areas on carpeting, prior art devices have sought to provide a more concentrated mixture of cleaning detergent in water by employing mixing valves. U.S. Pat. No. 4,575,007 is an example of such a carpet extractor having a mixing valve for providing a first normal concentration of detergent in water for normal cleaning and a second higher concentration of detergent in water for cleaning high traffic or heavily soiled areas of carpeting.
Mixing valves are typically complicated, expensive, temperamental structures that often provide unreliable concentrations of cleaning solution. As a result, there is a need in the prior art for a simple, inexpensive manner of effectively cleaning high-traffic or heavily soiled areas of carpeting using a carpet extractor.